Activities of medical centers for athletes and spectators at cycling track events in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

AIM: We focused on the preparation and activities of clinics for spectators and athletes in the Izu Velodrome in Shizuoka Prefecture, which was managed by the Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (TOC). METHODS: Two medical clinics were established for the track cycling competition: one for Olympians and their associates, and one for spectators, TOC-related individuals, and volunteers. Each medical clinic had two separate buildings. One was for individuals with suspected coronavirus disease (COVID-19); the other was for individuals who were deemed unlikely to have COVID-19. RESULTS: During the Olympics, five Olympians and one umpire were transported to a designated hospital. All of them had fall-related injuries. Nine patients visited the clinic for spectators, and six of the nine were volunteers. Two volunteers showed side-effects in association with COVID-19 vaccination. Five of the nine patients had outdoor-related disease. During the Paralympics Games, no Olympians visited the clinic, and three volunteers were treated at the clinic for spectators. All had outdoor-related diseases and returned to work after treatment. There were no confirmed cases of COVID-19 among individuals who attended the Olympic cycling track during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics. CONCLUSIONS: The present study showed the results of activities of the two clinics for the Olympics and Paralympics. Both medical clinics were necessary for the safe operation of the Olympics and Paralympics.

Statistical description of the denatured structure of a single protein, staphylococcal nuclease, by FRET analysis.

Structural characterization of fully unfolded proteins is essential for understanding not only protein-folding mechanisms, but also the structures of intrinsically disordered proteins. Because an unfolded protein can assume all possible conformations, statistical descriptions of its structure are most appropriate. For this purpose, we applied Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) analysis to fully unfolded staphylococcal nuclease. Artificial amino acids labeled with a FRET donor or acceptor were introduced by an amber codon and a four-base codon respectively. Eight double-labeled proteins were prepared, purified, and subjected to FRET analysis in 6 M urea. The observed behavior could be explained by a power law, R = αN0.44, where R, and N are the distance and the number of residues between donor and acceptor, and α is a coefficient. The index was smaller than the value expected for an excluded-volume random coil, 0.588, indicating that the fully unfolded proteins were more compact than polypeptides in good solvent. The FRET efficiency in the native state did not necessarily correlate to the distance obtained from crystal structure, suggesting that other factors such as the orientation factor made a substantial contribution to FRET.

A method for evaluating the thrust of a space propulsion device with wide range time variations using a disturbance observer.

A new method for evaluating thrust with high-frequency variations beyond the resonant frequency using a disturbance observer is presented. Setpoint control is applied to a conventional pendulum-type thrust stand to keep the pendulum at the target position using a solenoid actuator. During control, pendulum acceleration and solenoid-actuator current are measured, and the disturbance observer determines thrust with a wide range of frequency variations. The method allows thrust to be evaluated not only with constant and low-frequency variations, but also with high-frequency variations outside the resonant frequency. A thrust measurement device is prototyped to investigate accuracy over a wide frequency range from 0 to 100 Hz and the effects of the proportional-derivative-integral (PID) controller design. Calibration yields thrust measurement errors of 20% below 90 Hz. PID controller design has a smaller influence on the accuracy of the proposed method than the conventional null-balance method, so the proposed method requires the same stability under PID control as that for the null-balance method.

Designed abscisic acid analogs as antagonists of PYL-PP2C receptor interactions.

The plant stress hormone abscisic acid (ABA) is critical for several abiotic stress responses. ABA signaling is normally repressed by group-A protein phosphatases 2C (PP2Cs), but stress-induced ABA binds Arabidopsis PYR/PYL/RCAR (PYL) receptors, which then bind and inhibit PP2Cs. X-ray structures of several receptor-ABA complexes revealed a tunnel above ABA's 3' ring CH that opens at the PP2C binding interface. Here, ABA analogs with sufficiently long 3' alkyl chains were predicted to traverse this tunnel and block PYL-PP2C interactions. To test this, a series of 3'-alkylsulfanyl ABAs were synthesized with different alkyl chain lengths. Physiological, biochemical and structural analyses revealed that a six-carbon alkyl substitution produced a potent ABA antagonist that was sufficiently active to block multiple stress-induced ABA responses in vivo. This study provides a new approach for the design of ABA analogs, and the results validated structure-based design for this target class.

Brassinolide-2,3-acetonide: a brassinolide-induced rice lamina joint inclination antagonist.

A novel chemical tool compound that is an antagonist of brassinolide (BL, 1)-induced rice lamina joint inclination was developed. Although 2-O-, 3-O-, 22-O-, or 23-O-methylation of BL causes a critical decrease in biological activity,(5) a crystal structure of the extracellular leucine-rich repeat (LRR) domain of BRASSINOSTEROID-INSENSITIVE I (BRI1) bound to BL(3,4) indicates that the loss of activity of the O-methylated BL may result from not only the low affinity to BRI1, but also from blocking the interaction with another BR signaling factor, a partner protein of BRI1 (e.g., BRI1-ASSOCIATED KINASE 1, BAK1). On the basis of this hypothesis we synthesized the BL 2,3-acetonide 2, the 22,23-acetonide 3, and the 2,3:22,23-diacetonide 4 to assess the possibility of 2-O- and 3-O- or/and 22-O- and 23-O-alkylated BL as an antagonist in BR signaling evoked by exogenously applied BL. The 2,3-acetonide 2 more strongly inhibited the lamina inclination caused by BL relative to the 22,23-acetonide 3, whereas the diacetonide 4 had no effect most likely due to its increased hydrophobicity. This suggested that the 2,3-hydroxyl groups of BL play a more significant role in the interaction with a BRI1 partner protein rather than BRI1 itself in rice lamina joint inclination. Taken together it was demonstrated that BL, the most potent agonist of BRI1, is transformed into an antagonist by functionalization of the 2,3-dihydroxyl groups as the acetonide. This finding opens the door to the potential development of a chemical tool that modulates protein-protein interactions in the BR signaling pathway to dissect the BR-dependent processes.